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in the new CBA the signing bonus is now capped at 60% – Signing bonuses will be capped at 60 percent of the full player’s salary
so a little advantage the Leafs had they are looking at as a problem…naturallyalso Jays giving 2015 vibes, but also how is that 10 years ago
Is that only for contracts moving forward? Matthews’ bonuses after the new cap kicks in are at 77% and 70% for the last two years of his contract.
The culture starts with winning, its simply not all about taxes….sure it may help but if you have a winning culture with a good locker room, players will go there.
Tampa, dallas and florida all had low tax rates for decades, its only until they started winning constantly that they began attracting so many players.
Nothing will change here in toronto until they begin to win in the playoffs.
I think that’s probably fair – the culture of taking less to win starts with knowing how to win and what it takes to do it.
When I think of a winning culture, there are teams that struggle but maintain a “winning culture” through their tougher periods. As an example, and I realize this predates the cap, so it’s not an apples:apples comparison, but the idea is presented – as the Canadiens dynasty from the late 70s faded away after another decade of continually good play and the team transitioned from a Hall of Fame lineup to a lineup that featured guys like Richer, Skrudland or Naslund – all good, but none worthy of standing in Lafleur’s shadow – but the guys who had known what it took to win – Robinson or a younger Carbonneau who had learned from that group – carried the torch forward. As much as Patrick Roy in 92-93 is a legend, I don’t think that team wins the cup without the culture of winning that was established in the 1970s by Bowman’s group.
That’s ultimately Toronto’s largest challenge, I think. He may have been an asshole but when they started the rebuild with Babcock and Lamoriello at the top, you had guys who understood the culture change and “being a good pro”. They were the only stewards the Leafs had. I mean they got Hainsey in 2017, who had won a cup – but the larger voices that led the team over the years were Marleau, Thornton, Spezza and of course Tavares. It’s not intended as an offense to any of their legacies, but none of them would have implanted a winning culture change – none of them had won anything.
You replace Lamiorello with Dubas and Babcock with Keefe and you move further away from that winning culture. And to be clear – I am not saying that Lamiorello was great or that Babcock wasn’t an asshole – I’m noting that they both carried more of a cultural influence than anyone else in the organization. Obviously I don’t _know_, but I believe that stuff carries a lot of weight.
in the new CBA the signing bonus is now capped at 60% – Signing bonuses will be capped at 60 percent of the full player’s salary
so a little advantage the Leafs had they are looking at as a problem…naturallyalso Jays giving 2015 vibes, but also how is that 10 years ago
Ya its been fun watching the Jays. The 2015 team had the raw talent to sustain winning all season…..Im worried, this team doesnt have that to sustain all year….that they may cool off.
But if they can get a big lead in the AL and only cool off to go 37 – 34 the rest of the season…that should be enough to get into the playoffs.
Plus they get varsho back and sure Santander (but he’s been garbage) and maybe one of these years Vladdy goes on a hot streak when it counts, along with getting another starter…..they may be able to do some damage. We’ll see.
Been fun so far though…just enjoying the ride.And of course the league will never do anything help northern teams (except pittsburgh), for sure its all about the southern teams…need new fans.
Gavin Mckenna to the Pens is pretty easy to see 😉
Mario > Sid > Gavin
Something else that’s important is culture. Boston’s culture led to guys taking less to remain competitive. You’re seeing that in Florida now. You saw it in Tampa as well. Maybe Tavares’ latest contract can start something here, but I think as long as Matthews continues to seek ego-satisfying numbers, nothing will change here.
What’s sickening is the NHL under Bettman doesn’t address this issue. They want a salary cap, but still give teams in the south an advantage. Knowing how much that the Leafs contribute in revenue sharing, it’s a slap in the face to the fanbase who gives money to franchises that continues to have an advantage, thanks to the tax issues. Bettman is a clown and needs to go!
Address it how? What taxes do you use, state, federal, municipal, sales? Do you adjust each team’s cap to create after tax cap rates? There’s no way the league is going to move to a system with the cap rate of all 32 teams are going to change every year.
No Fake it’s becoming $ now. We never saw it before because the players didn’t make enough. Most of them still don’t. It’s the $10 mill plus players that it’s truly effecting.
Matthews makes league minimum for a reason and gets everything as a bonus while in Arizona. He saves 14.03% taxation that way. This year he literally saves a little more than $2 million.
You’ll see this more and more for a bit, and that’s because the league is literally trying to build up the popularity of the sport in the southern US so why stop it?[/quote]
Back in 2008 top players were making decent cash $7 -$9m (for that time)….no one was flocking to florida to play
In 2001 – 2003 top players were making $9 to $11.5m…..no one was flocking to florida to play.
Winning…changes everything.
Of course there are loop holes and tax breaks or lower taxes that players can take advantage of now to save money…of course that helps (along with weather)…not disputing that. But winning is the honey that attracts the bears and ants. If florida, tampa and dallas were garbage losing teams you think players would sign for less to play there?
Nope.
They take less, because they win….and they’ve built winning cultures…or even cultures that may be a “team first” culture. Which seems to be the exact opposite of what was built in Toronto.
Toronto got cocky and lazy….they thought everyone would want to play here cause its the “mecca of hockey”….so they seem to stop building a winning brand…they missed the boat and even homegrown talent got greedy or simply didnt want to stay and play.
But winning…can change that.
This notion that its all about taxes is BS…it helps….but so does winning and having a team first winning culture.And of course the league will never do anything help northern teams (except pittsburgh), for sure its all about the southern teams…need new fans.
in the new CBA the signing bonus is now capped at 60% – Signing bonuses will be capped at 60 percent of the full player’s salary
so a little advantage the Leafs had they are looking at as a problem…naturallyalso Jays giving 2015 vibes, but also how is that 10 years ago
The culture starts with winning, its simply not all about taxes….sure it may help but if you have a winning culture with a good locker room, players will go there.
Tampa, dallas and florida all had low tax rates for decades, its only until they started winning constantly that they began attracting so many players.
Nothing will change here in toronto until they begin to win in the playoffs.
No Fake it’s becoming $ now. We never saw it before because the players didn’t make enough. Most of them still don’t. It’s the $10 mill plus players that it’s truly effecting.
Matthews makes league minimum for a reason and gets everything as a bonus while in Arizona. He saves 14.03% taxation that way. This year he literally saves a little more than $2 million.
You’ll see this more and more for a bit, and that’s because the league is literally trying to build up the popularity of the sport in the southern US so why stop it?
If you can choose between 4 or 5 good teams and 3 of them have no state tax compared to another 2 that have 20% more, I’m sure it’s a larger factor than you’d think. The fact that Florida, Tampa, Dallas and Vegas are all competitive teams is definitely going to help them – but it starts there. Having the tax advantage allows you to remain competitive longer and more easily because you do save $1m here or $2m there.
Something else that’s important is culture. Boston’s culture led to guys taking less to remain competitive. You’re seeing that in Florida now. You saw it in Tampa as well. Maybe Tavares’ latest contract can start something here, but I think as long as Matthews continues to seek ego-satisfying numbers, nothing will change here.[/quote]
The culture starts with winning, its simply not all about taxes….sure it may help but if you have a winning culture with a good locker room, players will go there.
Tampa, dallas and florida all had low tax rates for decades, its only until they started winning constantly that they began attracting so many players.
Nothing will change here in toronto until they begin to win in the playoffs.
What’s sickening is the NHL under Bettman doesn’t address this issue. They want a salary cap, but still give teams in the south an advantage. Knowing how much that the Leafs contribute in revenue sharing, it’s a slap in the face to the fanbase who gives money to franchises that continues to have an advantage, thanks to the tax issues. Bettman is a clown and needs to go!
Truth is this is a business and where it needs to be sold is the south not in Canada.
Stop thinking the sport comes first, money does.
And yes the money is still coming from Canada and northern US, but that’s not the targeted goal.
